Essential Japanese Vocabulary Learn to Avoid Common (And Embarrassing) Mistakes Learn Japanese Grammar and Vocabulary Quickly and Effectively

EXAMPLES:
(1) Nihongo wa saikin gairaigo ga ōsugiru.

日本語は最近外来語が多すぎる。
Lately, too many loanwords are being used in Japanese.
(2) Suzuki-san wa saikin hon o dashita.
鈴木さんは最近本を出した。
Mr. Suzuki recently published a book.

Saikin 最近 used in the sense of sentence (1) may be replaced by konogoro
このごろ, as in

EXAMPLE:
(3) Nihongo wa konogoro gairaigo ga ōsugiru.

日本語はこのごろ外来語が多すぎる。
Lately, too many loanwords are being used in Japanese.

Saikin 最近 in the sense of sentence (2), however, may not be replaced by
konogoro このごろ.

EXAMPLE:
(4) *Suzuki-san wa konogoro hon o dashita.

*鈴木さんはこのごろ本を出した。

In other words, konogoro このごろ may not be used in reference to a single
action. It may be used, however, if the action repeats itself over a sustained
period of time, as in

EXAMPLE:
(5) Suzuki-san wa konogoro yoku hon o dasu.

鈴木さんはこのごろよく本を出す。
Nowadays, Mr. Suzuki often publishes books.

According to Morita (p. 160, vol. 2), the time span covered by saikin 最近 is
much longer than that covered by konogoro このごろ. Thus, in sentence (6)
below, saikin is fine, but konogoro probably is not.

EXAMPLE:
(6) Nihonjin ga yōfuku o kiru yō ni natta no wa, Nihon no nagai rekishi

kara mireba saikin (?konogoro) no koto da.
日本人が洋服を着るようになったのは、日本の長い歴史からみれば最

近（？このごろ）の ことだ。
In terms of Japan’s long history, it was only recently that the Japanese
started wearing Western clothes.

What is important about saikin 最近 is that it means “recent” or “recently”
as viewed from the present, and never from a point of time in the past, and there
it clearly differs from English “recent.” In English, for example, sentence (7) is
correct.

EXAMPLE:
(7) When I visited Mr. Suzuki ten years ago, he gave me a book he had recently

published.

In this sentence, “recently” means “a little while before,” not “a little while
ago.” Saikin 最近, on the other hand, cannot be used to mean “a little while
before” and must be replaced by such expressions as chotto mae ni ちょっと前
に, as in

EXAMPLE:
(8) Jūnen mae ni Suzuki-san o tazunetara, chotto mae ni (not *saikin 最近)

dashita hon o kureta.
十年前に鈴木さんを訪ねたら、ちょっと前に出した本をくれた。
When I visited Mr. Suzuki ten years ago, he gave me a book he had recently
published.

Sakan 盛ん prosperous, thriving

Sakan 盛ん is basically for something that is prospering or thriving, as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon de ichiban sakan na supōtsu wa yakyū darō.

日本でいちばん盛んなスポーツは野球だろう。
The most thriving sport in Japan is probably baseball.

In this sense, sakan 盛ん is quite similar to ninki ga aru 人気がある,
which also could be used in sentence (1). There is, however, a slight difference
between them in connotation. Sakan implies “strong businesswise,” while ninki
ga aru simply means “popular with a lot of people.” See (2a) and (2b) below.

EXAMPLES:

(2a) Nihon no zōsengyō wa mukashi hodo sakan de wa nai.
日本の造船業は昔ほど盛んではない。
The Japanese shipbuilding industry is not as thriving as before.

(2b) Nihon no zōsengyō wa mukashi hodo ninki ga nai.
日本の造船業は昔ほど人気がない。
The Japanese shipbuilding industry is not as popular as before.

(2a) means shipbuilding in Japan is not as strong as before, while (2b) means
high school or college graduates in Japan do not wish to go into the shipbuilding
business as eagerly as before.

In some cases, sakan 盛ん simply cannot be replaced by ninki ga aru 人気
がある. For example,

EXAMPLE:
(3) Senzen no Amerika de wa, jinshusabetsu ga sakan datta (not *ninki ga

atta 人気が あった).
戦前のアメリカでは、人種差別が盛んだった。
In prewar America, racial discrimination was rampant.

(See also HAYARU and NINKI.)

Sakaya 酒屋 saké store

A sakaya 酒屋 is a saké store but sells beer and whiskey as well. It is quite
different from an American liquor store, however. At a sakaya, liquor is only
one of the many items sold. Most of the merchandise is groceries such as sugar,
canned food, and miso. The sakaya is a relic from another time and is
disappearing, though.

Sakaya 酒屋 should not be confused with sakaba 酒場, a kind of bar.

Sake 酒 saké, liquor

Sake 酒 (or, more politely, osake お酒) can refer to either (a) Japanese rice
wine, or (b) alcoholic beverages generally. In (1) below, sake is used with
meaning (a), while in (2) it has meaning (b).

EXAMPLES:
(1) Osake wa arimasen ga bīru wa arimasu.

お酒はありませんがビールはあります。
We don’t have saké, but we have beer.
(2) Ano hito wa sake mo tabako mo nomimasen.
あの人は酒もタバコも飲みません。
He neither drinks liquor nor smokes.

To avoid this confusion, however, nihonshu 日本酒 “Japanese rice wine” is
sometimes used for meaning (a), and arukōru アルコール (lit., “alcohol”) for
meaning (b), as in

EXAMPLES:
(3) Kyō wa nihonshu ni shimashō.

今日は日本酒にしましょう。
Let’s have saké today.
(4) Ano hito wa arukōru ni tsuyoi desu nē.
あの人はアルコールに強いですねえ。
He can certainly hold his liquor, can’t he!

Sakka 作家 writer, novelist

A sakka 作家 is a fiction writer and most commonly a novelist. The word is
used with reference to a person’s occupation as a writer (or novelist).

EXAMPLE:
(1) Kawabata wa Ninon no daihyō-teki na sakka datta.

川端は日本の代表的な作家だった。
Kawabata was a representative writer (or novelist) of Japan.

Sakka 作家 cannot be used with regard to the authorship of a specific book.
In (2) below, sakka is wrong; it has to be replaced by sakusha 作者 “the author
of a specific work of fiction.”

EXAMPLE:
(2) Kono shōsetsu no sakusha (not *sakka 作家) wa Mishima desu.

この小説の作者は三島です。
The author of this novel is Mishima.

(See also CHOSHA and SHŌSETSUKA.)

Sakunen 昨年 last year

The most common word for last year is kyonen 去年, which is used commonly
both in speech and writing. When one wishes to be very formal, however, one
may switch to sakunen. There is no difference in meaning, only in the degree of
formality. See the following pairs of expressions referring to years.

Sa ma zama 様々 various

The most common word for “various” is iroiro いろいろ. Samazama 様々, a
more formal expression, could be used almost synonymously. In (1) below, for
example, both would be correct.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon ni wa iroiro/samazama na hōgen ga aru.

日本には いろいろ/様々な 方言がある。
In Japan, there are various kinds of dialects.
There is, however, a slight difference between these two words. Iroiro いろ
いろ means “many different kinds,” and sometimes “many” is emphasized over
“different,” as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Iroiro arigatō gozaimasu.

いろいろありがとうございます。
Thank you for the many (different) things you did for me.
This use of iroiro いろいろ cannot be replaced by samazama 様々, which
always focuses on “different” rather than “many.” That is why iroiro and
samazama can even be used together, as in

EXAMPLE:

(3) Nihon ni wa iroiro samazama na hōgen ga aru.
日本にはいろいろ様々な方言がある。
In Japan, there are many different kinds of dialects.

Sa mu i 寒い cold

Samui 寒い “cold” represents a sensation of coldness perceived throughout the
whole body.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Kyō wa samui.

今日は寒い。
It’s cold today.

Samui 寒い is never used in reference to solids or fluids. Examples (2) and
(3) below are therefore incorrect.

EXAMPLES:
(2) *samui te

*寒い手
lit., cold hand
(3) *samui jūsu
*寒いジュース
lit., cold juice

In such cases, samui 寒い has to be replaced by tsumetai 冷たい (see
TSUMETAI).

Some nouns may be modified by either samui or tsumetai.

EXAMPLES:
(4a) samui kaze

寒い風
cold wind
(4b) tsumetai kaze
冷たい風
cold wind

There is, however, a slight difference between (4a) and (4b). (4a) represents the
cold wind as something affecting one’s whole body, whereas (4b) represents the

coldness of the wind as it affects one’s skin, one’s face, or one’s hands only.

-San さん (suffix attached to a name)

-San さん most commonly follows a person’s family name (or family name plus
given name) to function somewhat like “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” or “Miss,” as in Tanaka-
san 田中さん or Tanaka Ichirō-san 田中一郎さん. Unlike “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” and
“Miss,” however, -san is not used when addressing a person higher in status than
the speaker. For example, a company employee speaking to his boss does not
use -san but rather uses the latter’s title as a term of address, e.g., shachō 社長
“company president,” buchō 部長 “department chief,” or kachō 課長 “section
chief.” A student speaking to his teacher does not as a rule use -san either but
calls him or her sensei 先生 (see SENSEI) instead.

-San さん may also be attached to given names alone. This is the case when
one addresses cousins, maids, neighbors’ children, etc. (e.g., Tarō-san 太郎さ
ん, Michiko-san 美 智子さん). -San may be added to occupation names to
address, or refer to, people in certain occupations. Carpenters, gardeners, bakers,
for example, are often called daiku-san 大工さ ん (lit., “Mr. Carpenter”),
uekiya-san 植木屋さん (lit., “Mr. Gardener”), and pan’ya-san パ ン屋さん
(lit., “Mr. Baker”), respectively. -San is also used with kinship terms in
addressing one’s relatives if the addressee is higher in status than the speaker,
e.g., otō-san お父 さん “father,” okā-san お母さん “mother,” oji-san おじさ
ん “uncle,” and oba-san おばさん “aunt.” When one addresses one’s own
children, grandchildren, or younger siblings, one uses their names without -san
さん, although -chan ちゃん (the diminutive variant of -san) may sometimes be
used.

-San さん is never used by itself, nor is it ever used in reference to oneself.

Sanpo 散歩 walk, stroll

Sanpo 散歩 is a noun meaning “a walk” or “a stroll,” and sanpo-suru 散歩する
is the corresponding compound verb meaning “to take a walk (or stroll).” Sanpo
only refers to a leisurely walk for exercise or for pleasure, and should not be
used when a specific destination is mentioned or when some business is
involved. If one walks to the office, for example, it is not a sanpo.

EXAMPLE:
(1) *Maiasa kaisha made sanpo-shimasu.

*毎朝会社まで散歩します。
I take a walk to the office every day.

This sentence has to be rephrased, for example, like the following:

EXAMPLE:
(2) Maiasa kaisha made aruite ikimasu.

毎朝会社まで歩いて行きます。
I walk to the office every day.

Sa yonara さよなら Good-by

Sayonara さよなら (or, more formally, Sayōnara さようなら) is the most
common farewell that may be used at any time of the day. However, it carries a
rather informal tone and therefore does not go well with keigo 敬語 (respect
language). An adult is unlikely to say Sayonara さよなら or Sayōnara さよう
なら to a person of much higher status. For example, an employee would
normally use Shitsurei-shimasu 失礼します (lit., “Excuse me [for leaving]”) as
he parts with his boss.

Sayonara さよなら is not appropriate for all occasions of leavetaking. For
example, it cannot be used when one leaves one’s own home (Itte-mairimasu
行ってまいります is the correct expression then) or when one sees off a
member of one’s own household (Itteirasshai 行っていらっしゃい is the set
phrase for that occasion) (see ITTE-MAIRIMASU and ITTE-IRASSHAI).

Seichō-suru 成長する to grow

English “grow” may refer not only to the growth of persons, animals, plants, and
inanimate objects but also to an increase in the number of something. Seichō-
suru 成長する, on the other hand, may never refer to an increase in the number
of something. The use of seichō-suru is therefore correct in sentences (1) and
(2) below but not in sentence (3).

EXAMPLES:
(1) Kodomo wa jūdai ni kyūgeki ni seichō-suru.

子供は十代に急激に成長する。
Children grow rapidly in their teens.
(2) Nihon-keizai wa 60-nendai kara 70-nendai ni kakete ōkiku seichō-shita.

日本経済は60年代から70年代にかけて大きく成長した。
The Japanese economy grew markedly during the 1960s and the 1970s.
(3) *Sen-kyūhyaku-hachijū-nendai ni Amerika no Nihongo no gakuseisū wa
zuibun seichō-shita. *1980年代にアメリカの日本語の学生数はずいぶ
ん成長した。
In the 1980s, the number of Japanese-language students in America grew a
lot.

In sentence (3) above, “grew in number” should be fueta 増えた.
Seichō-suru 成長する, unlike “grow,” is basically a written expression.

Sentence (1) above, for example, should be rephrased in speech as follows:

EXAMPLE:
(4) Kodomo wa jūdai de sugoku ōkiku naru/se ga nobiru.

子供は十代ですごく大きくなる/背が伸びる。
Children grow a lot taller in their teens.

Se ifu 政府 government

In English, “government” may refer to any level of government. You can talk
about a city government, a state government, or a federal government. In
Japanese, on the other hand, seifu 政府 is generally reserved for a national
government only. It is therefore correct to say Nihon-seifu 日本政府 “the
Japanese government” or Amerika-seifu アメリカ政府 “the American
government” but not, for example, *ken-seifu 県政府 (lit., “prefectural
government”). Kenchō 県庁 “prefectural office” is used instead.

Along the same lines, English speakers often make the following error in
Japanese:

EXAMPLE:
(1) *Ano hito wa seifu ni tsutomete-imasu.

*あの人は政府に勤めています。
That person works for the government.

In (1) above, the English version is of course correct, but the Japanese, its
direct translation, is not. Japanese has other ways of expressing the same idea, as
in (2a) and (2b).

EXAMPLES:

(2a) Ano hito wa kanchō ni tsutomete-imasu.
あの人は官庁に勤めています。
That person works for a government office.

(2b) Ano hito wa kanryō/kōmuin desu.
あの人は 官僚/公務員 です。
That person is a government employee.

Also, Japanese speakers normally would prefer being more specific, e.g.,

EXAMPLE:
(3) Ano hito wa Monbu-Kagakushō (Zaimushō, Gaimushō ...) ni tsutomete-

imasu.
あの人は文部科学省（財務省、外務省…）に勤めています。
That person works for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology (Finance, Foreign Affairs, etc.).

Seikatsu 生活 life

Seikatsu 生活, inochi 命, and jinsei 人生 are all translated as “life,” but each is
different. Seikatsu means “life” in the sense of “making a living.”

EXAMPLE:
(1) Bukka ga takai to seikatsu (not *inochi 命, *jinsei 人生) ga kurushiku

naru.
物価が高いと生活が苦しくなる。
When prices are high, life (i.e., making a living) becomes tough.

Inochi 命 is what sustains life within living things, as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Itō-san wa mada wakai noni kekkaku de inochi (not *seikatsu 生活,

*jinsei 人生) o otoshita.
伊藤さんはまだ若いのに結核で命を落とした。
Mr. Ito lost (lit., dropped) his life because of TB despite his young age.

Jinsei 人生 is human existence in the sense of “a course of life,” as in

EXAMPLES:
(3a) Jinsei (not *seikatsu 生活, *inochi 命) wa yonjū kara to iwarete kita.

人生は四十からと言われてきた。

It has always been said that life begins at forty.
(3b) Kare no jinsei (not *inochi 命) wa mijime datta.

彼の人生はみじめだった。
His life was miserable.

In (3b) above, jinsei 人生 may be replaced by seikatsu 生活, but the
meaning of the sentence would change. (3b) means “His life from beginning to
end was a miserable one,” i.e., “he was never happy throughout his life.” On the
other hand, Kare no seikatsu wa mijime datta 彼の生活はみじめだった
would seem to focus on a particular period of his life. For example, he grew up
happily in the country, but then he moved to Tokyo to enter college and, while
there, he had no money and had to live a very sad life.

Se ito 生徒 student, pupil

In English, a person attending almost any kind of school from elementary school
to college and beyond may be called a student. In Japanese, on the other hand,
gakusei 学生 (see GAKUSEI) and seito 生徒, both meaning “student,” are
fairly clearly distinguished from each other, the former being reserved mostly for
college and university students, and the latter for younger students in nursery
school through high school. The line of demarcation is somewhat blurred,
however, high school students sometimes being referred to as gakusei.

Students taking private lessons are not gakusei 学生 but seito 生徒
regardless of age. For example, a housewife taking piano lessons from a tutor is
his seito. Note the difference between the two words.

EXAMPLE:
Ano piano no sensei ni wa seito ga takusan aru. Gakusei mo, shufu mo,
komodo mo iru.
あのピアノの先生は生徒がたくさんある。学生も、主婦も、子供もい
る。
That piano teacher has lots of private students—[college] students, housewives,
and children.

Se izei せいぜい at the most

Seizei せいぜい means “at the most,” as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Watashi wa bīru o nonde mo, seizei ippai da.

私はビールを飲んでも、せいぜい一杯だ。
I can drink only one glass of beer at the most.

The implication in the above case is “even if I put in all my effort.”

EXAMPLE:
(2) Kare no nenshū wa seizei niman-doru darō.

化rの年収はせいぜい二万ドルだろう。
His annual income must be at the most $20,000.

In sentence (2), seizei せいぜい could imply either “even with his best
effort” or “even if I’m trying to give it the highest possible estimate.”

Se kai 世界 world

If you look up “world” in an English-Japanese dictionary, you will find at least
three words: sekai 世界, yononaka 世の中, and seken 世間. Sekai in a broad
sense is the physical world that spreads all over the globe, as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Sekai (not *yononaka 世の中, *seken 世間) -jū o ryokō-shite mitai.

世界中を旅行してみたい。
I’d like to travel all over the world.

Sekai 世界 in a much narrower sense may refer to a particular segment of
society, as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Gakusha no sekai (not *yononaka 世の中, *seken 世間) wa, ii koto

bakari de wa nai.
学者の世界は、いいことばかりではない。
The world of academics is not all pleasant.

Yononaka 世の中 means “this general world where we live” but not the
kind of geographical world consisting of almost 200 countries. For example,

EXAMPLE:
(3) Toshi o toru to yononaka (not *sekai 世界, *seken 世間) ga iya ni naru

hito ga iru.
年を取ると世の中がいやになる人がいる。
Some people, as they grow old, become tired of the world (not in the sense of
international politics or anything like that, but rather in terms of what
happens around them in daily life in general).

Seken 世間 is very close to yononaka 世の中 but much narrower in scope.

EXAMPLE:
(4) Konna koto o suru to, seken (not *sekai 世界, *yononaka 世の中) ni

taishite hazukashii.
こんな事をすると、世間に対して恥ずかしい。
If I do something like this, I’ll be too embarrassed to face the world (i.e., the
people around me).

Se ma i 狭い narrow, small in area

Semai 狭い is the opposite of hiroi 広い “wide” (see HIROI). As is the case
with hiroi, semai is used both one-dimensionally as in example (1) and two-
dimensionally as in (2).

EXAMPLES:
(1) semai michi (mon, toguchi, etc.)

狭い道（門、戸口、 etc.)
narrow road (gate, doorway, etc.)
(2) semai heya (niwa, kuni, etc.)
狭い部屋（庭、国、 etc.)
small (i.e., limited in space) room (yard, country, etc.)

When used two-dimensionally, semai 狭い is similar in meaning to chiisai
小さい “small,” but these two adjectives are different in focus. Chiisai is simply
“small in size,” whereas semai signifies “not spacious enough for a particular
purpose.” Even a chiisai room may not be semai if occupied by someone
without furniture, while even an ōkii 大きい “large” room could become semai
if used for a huge banquet (Suzuki, p. 80). One might say that semai carries a
negative connotation while chiisai doesn’t.

Senjitsu 先日 the other day

Senjitsu 先日 is probably used most often in greetings, as in the following:

EXAMPLES:
(1) Senjitsu wa gochisō-sama deshita.

先日はごちそうさまでした。
Thank you for the treat the other day.
(2) Senjitsu wa dōmo arigatō gozaimashita.
先日はどうもありがとうございました。
Thank you for what you did for me the other day.

In Japan, when two people meet after a few days (perhaps up to a week or
two), each tries to remember in words what favor the other person did for him
the last time they met. Even if the other person might not have done any favor at
all, one often acknowledges the last meeting by saying something less specific
such as

EXAMPLE:
(3) Senjitsu wa dōmo shitsurei-shimashita.

先日はどうも失礼しました。
lit., I was rude the other day.

This expression is used even when the speaker did nothing rude at all. It is
merely the Japanese way of saying “It was good to see you (or talk to you) the
other day.” In fact, (3) is a good example of how Japanese speakers have a
tendency to apologize where English speakers would express happiness or
pleasure (e.g., “It was good to see you,” “I enjoyed talking to you,” “Your party
was simply great,” etc.).

If one wishes to be even less specific than (3) above, one can simply say

EXAMPLE:
(4) Senjitsu wa dōmo.

先日はどうも。

This could be an abbreviation of either (2) or (3). Precisely because of its
vagueness, this expression is considered very convenient and is used quite
frequently.

Senjitsu 先日 is a formal expression and should be replaced by kono-aida
この間 in informal speech (see KONO-AIDA).

Senpai 先輩 lit., one’s senior

If a person enters, and graduates from, the same school or college that you do,
but ahead of you in time, even by one year, he is a senpai 先輩 to you, and you
don’t refer to him as a tomodachi 友達 “friend” (see TOMODACHI). Men
observe these terminology rules much more rigidly than women do. Suppose
Tanaka and Suzuki, both men, graduated from the same high school or college,
with Tanaka graduating a year or two before Suzuki. If they meet, Tanaka will
call Suzuki either Suzuki 鈴木 or Suzuki-kun 鈴木君, but Suzuki will address
Tanaka as Tanaka-san 田中さん. (In this particular instance, women’s speech
might be called more democratic than men’s. If Tanaka and Suzuki above were
both women, they would call each other Tanaka-san and Suzuki-san.)

Being a senpai 先輩 thus gives one higher status in Japanese human
relations, but at the same time this is accompanied by “noblesse oblige.” It is
tacitly understood in Japanese society that senpai are supposed to look after the
well-being of their kōhai 後輩 “juniors,” especially if they used to belong to the
same athletic team in school or college. In fact, high school or college athletic
teams in Japan are often coached by senpai who volunteer their service free of
charge. (See also KŌHAI.)

Se nse i 先生 teacher

Sensei 先生 has two uses. First of all, it means “teacher.”

EXAMPLE:
(1) Ano hito wa kōkō no sensei da sō da.

あの人は高校の先生だそうだ。
I hear he is a high-school teacher.

Second, it is used as a respectful term of address for people in certain
professions, e.g., teachers, doctors, dentists, writers, lawyers, and politicians.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Sensei, ashita wa gotsugō ga yoroshii deshō ka.

先生、あしたはご都合がよろしいでしょうか。
Would tomorrow be convenient for you?

This second use of sensei 先生 is impossible to translate into English because

there is no equivalent. (It is for this reason that the translator of Soseki
Natsume’s novel Kokoro ここ ろ used the Japanese word sensei throughout the
English version for the elderly gentleman who is called sensei and otherwise
remains nameless in the original.) In situations such as (2) above, the English
speaker would use the name of the addressee, e.g., “Dr. (or Mr., Mrs., Miss)
Miller, would tomorrow be convenient for you?”

There is another word, kyōshi 教師, which also means “teacher,” but there
are several differences between this word and sensei. First of all, kyōshi does
not refer to anyone but teachers. Second, it is never used as a term of address.
Third, the word sensei carries with it a connotation of respect and is therefore
not used in reference to oneself. When a teacher mentions his occupation to
someone else, he should say, for example,

EXAMPLE:
(3) Kōkō no kyōshi (not *sensei 先生) o shite-imasu.

高校の教師をしています。
I am a high-school teacher.

Fourth, except when one is referring to oneself, kyōshi 教師 is mostly a written
form. It is not a conversational expression like sensei 先生 and is rarely used by
children.

Se nshu 選手 a player (selected to play a sport)

Senshu 選手 is often translated as “player,” but one must be careful not to
equate the two. First, a “player” can be a player of anything, e.g., a tennis player,
a chess player, a piano player, etc., while senshu normally refers only to
athletes. Second, a senshu is someone selected to play a certain sport while a
player can be anyone who plays something. See the difference between (1a) and
(1b).

EXAMPLES:
(1a) Tarō wa tenisu no senshu da.

太郎はテニスの選手だ。
Taro is a varsity tennis player.
(1b) Jon wa tenisu o suru.
ジョンはテニスをする。
John is a tennis player.

Sentence (1a) means “Taro is a member of his school’s tennis team,”
whereas (1b) is just another way of saying “John plays tennis.”

Sentaku 洗濯 washing

Sentaku 洗濯 means “washing, laundering,” and it becomes a compound verb
with the addition of suru する, i.e., sentaku-suru 洗濯する, meaning “to wash,

to launder.” Sentaku refers only to washing clothes, linens, etc. and is, in this
sense, quite different from arau 洗う “to wash,” which may refer to washing

anything. In sentence (1), therefore, either sentaku-suru or arau would be all

right, but in (2), arau would be the only correct verb.

EXAMPLES:

(1) Ato de kutsushita o sentaku-suru (or arau) tsumori desu.
あとでくつ下を洗濯する（洗う）つもりです。

I plan to wash some socks later.
(2) Te o arai-nasai (not *sentaku-shinasai 洗濯しなさい).

手を洗いなさい。

Wash your hands.

English “wash” does not always require an object. For example, in “Monday is

the day we wash,” “wash” by itself means “wash clothes” and doesn’t need an
object. In Japanese, on the other hand, although sentaku-suru 洗濯する does

not always need an object, arau does. In the following example, therefore, only

(a) would be correct.

EXAMPLE: (a) sentaku-bi desu.
(3) Getsuyō ga 洗濯日 です。

月曜が (b) *arau hi
*洗う日
Monday is our wash day.

Se nzo 先祖 ancestor

There are two main words in Japanese meaning “ancestor”: senzo 先祖 and
sosen 祖先. Senzo sounds more personal and usually refers to one’s own family

ancestors, especially fairly recent (i.e., going back only a few generations). For

example, a butsudan 仏壇 “family Buddhist altar” is dedicated to one’s senzo,
or more politely, gosenzo-sama ご先 祖様 “dear ancestors,” i.e., one’s
deceased parents, grandparents, and perhaps great grandparents. Sosen is a more
impersonal term; thus there is no such expression as *gososensama *ご祖先様
to refer to one’s own “dear” ancestors. Sosen connotes going back much farther
and is therefore preferred to senzo when, for example, one talks about the
ancestors of the Japanese race, as in

EXAMPLE:
Nihonjin no sosen (?senzo) ga doko kara kita ka to iu koto wa, ima demo
tokidoki mondai ni sareru.
日本人の祖先（？先祖）がどこから来たかと言うことは、いまでも時々
問題にされる。
Where the ancestors of the Japanese race originally came from is still argued
about at times.

Shibai 芝居 play

Shibai 芝居 means a “play” in the sense of “theatrical performance” or “show.”

EXAMPLES:
(1) Kyō wa shibai o mi ni ikimashō.

今日は芝居を見に行きましょう。
Let’s go and see a play today.
(2) Are wa ii shibai deshita yo.
あれはいい芝居でしたよ。
That was a good play.

Shibai 芝居 may also mean “playacting, putting on an act.”

EXAMPLE:
(3) Hontō ni naite-iru n ja arimasen. Shibai desu yo.

本当に泣いているんじゃありません。芝居ですよ。
She isn’t really crying. She’s just faking it.

Dramas one reads are usually not shibai 芝居 but gikyoku 戯曲 (although
when a gikyoku is performed on stage, it is referred to as a shibai).

EXAMPLE:
(4) Chēhofu no gikyoku (not *shibai 芝居) wa zuibun yonda ga, shibai wa

mada mita koto ga nai.
チェーホフの戯曲はずいぶん読んだが、芝居はまだ見たことがない。
I’ve read a lot of dramas by Chekhov, but I’ve never seen any of them
performed.

“Drama” in the sense of “theater arts” is not shibai 芝居 but engeki 演劇.

EXAMPLE:
(5) Ano hito wa daigaku de engeki o senkō-shite-imasu.

あの人は大学で演劇を専攻しています。
He is majoring in theater arts in college.

An amateur play staged by young students, especially elementary-school
children, is usually called geki 劇 rather than shibai 芝居.

EXAMPLE:
(6) Uchi no ko wa kondo gakugeikai de geki ni deru sō desu.

うちの子は今度学芸会で劇に出るそうです。
Our child says he’ll be in a play at the school’s art festival.

When geki 劇 is used in compounds, however, there is no connotation of
amateurishness. For example, kageki 歌劇 “opera,” shūkyōgeki 宗教劇
“religious play,” etc., just represent different categories of plays.

Plays written and produced for radio or TV are called dorama ドラマ (from
English “drama”)—more specifically, rajio-dorama ラジオドラマ (lit., “radio
drama”) or terebidorama テレビドラマ (lit., “TV drama”).

Shibaraku-buri しばらくぶり for the first time after a long while

Shibaraku しばらく and shibaraku-buri しばらくぶり are often confused by
students of Japanese, but they are not the same. Shibaraku means “for a while,”
as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Shibaraku koko de omachi kudasai.

しばらく ここでお待ちください。
Please wait here for a while.

Just as in the case of English “for a while,” the time span referred to as

shibaraku しば らく could be either long or not so long; only the context
determines the actual length.

Shibaraku-buri しばらくぶり, on the other hand, means “for the first time
after a long while” and is never used unless the time span is long. It is thus
synonymous with hisashiburi 久しぶり, as in

EXAMPLE:

(2) Kyōwa shibaraku-buri ni/de Nihon-eiga o mita.
今日は しばらくぶり に/で 日本映画を見た。

hisashi-buri
久しぶり

Today I saw a Japanese film after a long time.

When you see someone after many months or years, you may exchange the
following greeting, which is a standard formula used quite often:

EXAMPLE: desu ne.
ですね。
(3) (O)hisashi-buri
（ お）久しぶり
Shibaraku-buri
しばらくぶり

We haven’t seen each other for a long time.

When the person you meet in such a situation is a good friend with whom
you speak informally, just say

EXAMPLE:

(4) Shibaraku!
しばらく！

Haven’t seen you for a while!

In this case, -buri ぶり is omitted. Note that -buri in hisashi-buri 久しぶり,
however, can never be left out, i.e., “hisashi 久し” by itself can never be used.

Shigoto 仕事 work, job

Shigoto 仕事 means “job” or “work.”
EXAMPLES:

(1a) Jon wa daigaku o sotsugyō-shite sugu shigoto ga mitsukatta.
ジョンは大学を卒業してすぐ仕事が見つかった。
John found a job right after he graduated from college.

(1b) Kyō wa kaisha de shigoto ga nakute taikutsu-shite-shimatta.
今日は会社で仕事がなくて退屈してしまった。
Today I was bored at the office because there was no work to do.

In English, one may say “I just came home from work” to mean “I just came
home from the office.” In Japanese, however, shigoto 仕事 cannot replace
kaisha 会社 “company; office.”

EXAMPLE:
(2) Ima kaisha (not *shigoto 仕事) kara kaette kita tokoro desu.

いま会社から帰って来たところです。
I just came home from the office.

An American once said to me Shigoto kara denwa o kakemasu 仕事から
電話をかけま す。 to mean “I’ll call you from my office.” This sentence is
also wrong. Shigoto 仕事 in this context must be replaced by kaisha 会社,
ginkō 銀行 “bank,” daigaku 大学 “university,” kenkyūjo 研究所 “institute,”
etc., depending on where one works; otherwise just use tsutomesaki 勤め先
“place where one is employed.”

Shi kata ga na i 仕方がない cannot be helped

Shikata ga nai 仕方がない, or shikatanai 仕方ない, is almost always
equated with “cannot be helped,” as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Byōki no toki ni gakkō o yasumu no wa shikata ga nai.

病気の時に学校を休むのは仕方がない。
Missing school when one is ill is something that can’t be helped.

This expression, however, has other uses. For example, it may mean
“useless” when preceded by te mo ても.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Imasara sonna koto o itte mo shikata ga nai.

いまさらそんな事を言っても仕方がない。
It’s useless to say that kind of thing now.

Or it may mean “unbearably” when preceded by te て.

EXAMPLE:
(3) Atsukute shikata ga nai kara, pūru e ikō to omou.

暑くて仕方がないから、プールへ行こうと思う。
It’s unbearably hot (lit., It’s so hot and there’s nothing we can do about it); I
think I’ll go to the pool.

It also means “hopeless” when it directly modifies a noun.

EXAMPLE:
(4) Aitsu hontō ni shikata ga nai/shōganai yatsu da.

あいつは本当に仕方がない/しょうがない やつだ。
He’s a really hopeless guy.

Shi kaku 四角 square

Shikaku 四角 literally means “four-cornered [shape].” It follows, therefore, that
the word may refer not only to squares but to rectangular shapes as well. When
one has to make a distinction between the two, one may say seihōkei 正方形 for
“a square” and chōhōkei 長 方形 for “a rectangular shape.”

Shi ke n 試験 examination

Don’t translate “take an examination” directly into Japanese and say *shiken o
toru *試験 を取る (lit., “to take an examination”). The correct expression is
shiken o ukeru 試験を受 ける (lit., “to receive an examination”).

EXAMPLE:
(1) Miyata-kun wa Tōdai no nyūgaku-shiken o ukeru sō da.

宮田君は東大の入学試験を受けるそうだ。
I hear Miyata will be taking the entrance examination for Tokyo University.

Unlike English “examination,” shiken 試験 does not normally refer to
examination papers. A sheet of paper with examination questions is called
shiken-mondai 試験問題 before the answers are written in, and tōan 答案 (lit.,
“answer draft”) afterward.

EXAMPLES:

(2) Teacher: Ima shiken-mondai (not *shiken 試験) o tsukutte-iru n
desu.
いま試験問題を作っているんです。
I’m preparing an exam.

(3) Teacher: Tōan (not *shiken 試験) o takusan shirabe-nakucha
(after exams) naranai n desu.
答案をたくさん調べなくちゃならないんです。
I’ve got to read lots of exams.

Sh inji ru 信じる to believe

English “believe” is sometimes used very lightly, just to signify “think,” as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) I believe (or think) I’ll have lunch now.

Shinjiru 信じる cannot be used in this manner; it is a much weightier word,
as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Watashi no iu koto o shinjite kudasai.

私の言う事を信じてください。
Please believe what I say.

Shinjiru 信じる has another version, shinzuru 信ずる, but this latter verb
is more formal and is basically a written form.

EXAMPLE:
(3) Kirisuto o shinzuru mono wa Kurisuchan de aru.

キリストを信ずる者はクリスチャンである。
A person who believes in Christ is a Christian.

Shinkansen 新幹線 the New Trunk Line; the train which runs on the New

Trunk Line

Shinkansen 新幹線, the so-called Bullet Train, literally means “New Trunk
Line.” The word may refer to either the line or the train.

EXAMPLES:

(1a) Shinkansen wa rokujū-nendai ni kaitsū-shita.
新幹線は60年代に開通した。
The Shinkansen opened in the 60s.

(1b) Kondo no Kyōto-yuki no Shinkansen wa nan-ji ni demasu ka.
今度の京都行きの新幹線は何時に出ますか。
What time is the next Shinkansen leaving for Kyoto?

This kind of ambiguous usage is quite common in Japanese and is seen
widely. English tends to be a little more specific. Compare the Japanese and the
English versions below.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Kondo no Nikkō wa ku-ji ni demasu.

今度の日航は9時に出ます。
The next Japan Airlines flight leaves at 9 A.M.

Shi ntai-shōg a isha 身体障害者 physically-handicapped person

Just as English has become very sensitive about the use of discriminatory
expressions such as “blind,” “deaf,” “mute,” “cripple,” etc., so has Japanese.
Although the Japanese public in general still remains insensitive, the media have
become extremely careful not to use any discriminatory terms. In fact, more and
more neutral-sounding new words are being coined for this purpose. For
example, a deaf person used to be called tsunbo 聾, but the official term these
days is rōsha 聾者, which sounds much less offensive. Shintaishōgaisha 身体
障害者 is another fairly new word meaning “physically-handicapped person.”
Since it is such a long word consisting of five kanji, it is often shortened to
shinshōsha 身障者 or shōgaisha 障害者.

Shiritsu 私立 private

In a Japanese-English dictionary, shiritsu 私立 is always translated as “private,”
but this is actually very misleading because the idea of “private” is expressed
only by the first kanji of the two, and not by the second, which is 立, meaning
“established” or “founded.” A private university is a privately-established
university, so it is shiritsu-daigaku 私立大学 A private property, however, is a
privately-owned, not privately established, property, so you must call it shiyū-
zaisan 私有財産 (lit., “privately-owned property”), not shiritsu-zaisan 私立財
産. A private hospital room is called koshitsu 個室 (lit., “individual room”).

Shiritsu-daigaku 私立大学 “private university” and shiritsu-daigaku 市立
大学 “municipal university” (lit., city-founded university) are unfortunately
pronounced the same. To make the distinction clear in speech, the former is
often pronounced watakushi-ritsu （私立), giving a kun reading to the first
kanji 私, which is normally given an on reading in this context. Shi 市 in 市立
大学, too, is pronounced sometimes with its kun reading, i.e., ichi (市), for the
sake of differentiation.

Shiru 知る to get to know

Shiru 知る is a very strange verb. To express the idea of “I don’t know,” we use
the non-past negative, as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Shirimasen. (or Shiranai.)

知りません。 （知らない。）
I don’t know.

However, to express the idea of “I know,” we must use the -te-iru form, as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Shitte-imasu. (or Shitte-iru.)

知っています。 （知っている。）
I know. (lit., I am in the state of having gotten to know.)

In other words, for some reason, we never use Shirimasu 知ります (or Shiru
知る) to mean “I know,” nor do we usually use Shitte-imasen 知っていません
(or Shitte-inai 知ってい ない) to mean “I don’t know.” (Although we
occasionally hear Shitte-imasen or Shitteinai, they are not common
expressions.) The reason “I know” is Shitte-iru 知っている is because shiru is
a punctual verb meaning “to get to know,” and not a stative verb meaning “to
know.” Shitte-iru, therefore, literally means “I am in the state of having gotten
to know.” The question still remains, however, why Shitte-inai 知っていない
(lit., “I am not in the state of having gotten to know”) is not as common an
expression as Shiranai 知らな い in the sense of “I don’t know.” No other verb
behaves quite like this.

English “I don’t know” does not always correspond to Shirimasen 知りま
せん (or Shiranai 知らない) in Japanese; it sometimes corresponds to
Wakarimasen 分かりません (or Wakaranai 分からない). For the difference

between these two Japanese expressions, see WAKARU.

Shisō 思想 thought; idea; ideology

English “thought” and “idea” are words that can be used in daily speech, e.g.,
“I’ll give it some thought,” “That’s a good idea,” etc. Shisō 思想, on the other
hand, is a more technical, academic, philosophical term, as in

EXAMPLES:
(1a) Kanto no shisō

カントの思想
Kant’s ideology
(1b) kindai-shisōshi
近代思想史
modern intellectual history

For “I’ll give it some thought,” therefore, just say Chotto kangaete mimasu
ちょっと考 えてみます. For “That’s a good idea,” say Ii kangae da いい考
えだ, or even Ii aidia da いい アイデアだ, but not *Ii shisō da いい思想だ.

Shitamachi 下町 lower town; downtown

Shitamachi 下町 literally means “lower town” and refers mostly to the low-
lying areas of Tokyo, such as Asakusa, Kanda, and Shiba, where, during the Edo
period, the townspeople (mainly merchants) resided. This is the home of genuine
Edokko 江戸っ子 “Edoites,” the speakers of shitamachi speech, which is
known for its lack of distinction between hi ひ and shi し. (Incidentally, in the
Japanese version of My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle speaks this sort of shitamachi
speech as the Japanese equivalent of Cockney.)

To equate shitamachi 下町 with English “downtown” is absolutely
erroneous. For one thing, any good-sized town has a downtown section, whereas
shitamachi is used almost exclusively in reference to Tokyo. For another,
shitamachi is not as frequently used in Japanese as “downtown” is in English.
The English speaker talks about going downtown, eating downtown, or shopping
downtown. That is all part of everyday language. The Japanese counterparts of
these expressions, however, do not ordinarily contain the word shitamachi.
Even in Tokyo, which has a section called shitamachi, one does not use, for
example, *Kyō wa shitamachi e ikimashō 今日は下町へ行きましょう to

mean “Let’s go downtown today.” Instead, one would refer to specific sections
of Tokyo, as in Kyō wa Ginza e ikimashō 今日は銀座へ行きましょう “Let’s
go to the Ginza today,” Kyō wa Shinjuku de eiga o mimashita 今日は新宿で
映画を見ました “I saw a movie in Shinjuku today,” or Shibuya de shokuji o
shimashita 渋谷で食事をしました “I ate [at a restaurant] in Shibuya.” The
word shitamachi is used primarily to describe a person’s background, as in Ano
hito wa shitamachi-sodachi desu yo あの人は下町育ちですよ “He grew up
in shitamachi.”

Shi tsu rei-shimasu 失礼します Excuse me

Shitsurei-shimasu 失礼します and Shitsurei-shimashita 失礼しました both
become “Excuse me” in English, but they should be clearly distinguished.
Shitsurei-shimasu means “I am going to commit an act of rudeness” while
Shitsurei-shimashita means “I have committed an act of rudeness.” The former,
therefore, should be used to mean “Excuse me” for something you are about to
do—for example, before going into your teacher’s office. The latter, on the other
hand, should be used to mean “Excuse me” for something you have already
done, such as having bothered the addressee.

Shitsurei-shimasu 失礼します and Shitsurei-shimashita 失礼しました
are also used in situations that English speakers do not normally consider worth
apologizing for. For example, Japanese say Shitsurei-shimasu when invited into
someone’s home. We regularly say Shitsurei-shimasu as a farewell instead of
Sayonara さよなら when parting with someone higher in status than we are. It
is normal for us to say Senjitsu wa shitsureishimashita 先日は失礼しました
when we see someone with whom we have done something recently, e.g., dining
out together. The English equivalent in such a case would not be “I’m sorry for
what I did the other day,” but rather “It was good to see you the other day.” In
informal conversation, both Shitsurei-shimasu and Shitsurei-shimashita
become Shitsurei 失礼.

Shokuji 食事 meal

In English, you can say either “have a meal” or “eat a meal.” In Japanese,
however, use shokuji o suru 食事をする (lit., “do a meal”) or, more formally,
shokuji o toru 食事を取る (lit., “take a meal”), but not *shokuji o taberu 食事
を食べる.

Gohan ご飯, when used in the sense of “meal,” on the other hand, takes
taberu 食べる, and not suru する or toru 取る. See the example below.

EXAMPLE:
Gohan mō tabeta (not *shita/totta した/取った)?
ご飯もう食べた？
Have you eaten yet? (lit., Have you eaten a meal yet?)

Shōsetsu 小説 novel, short story

A shōsetsu 小説 is a work of fiction, be it a novel or a short story. In other
words, the Japanese language does not generally make a distinction between
novels and short stories. When it is necessary to do so, however, one can use the
term chōhen-shōsetsu 長編小説 (lit., “long shōsetsu”) for novels and tanpen-
shōsetsu 短編小説 (lit., “short shōsetsu”) for short stories.

Shōsetsuka 小説家 novelist

Shōsetsuka 小説家 means “novelist” or “writer of short stories.” Thus it has a
narrower range of meaning than sakka 作家, which, although it most often
means “novelist,” can also refer to playwrights (see SAKKA, also CHOSHA).

Shō tai-suru [Sho otai-suru] 招待する to invite

Shōtai-suru 招待する “to invite” is a formal expression and is usually used
with expressions denoting formal affairs.

EXAMPLE:
(1) hito o kekkonshiki (en’yūkai, kaiten-iwai, etc.) ni shōtai-suru

人を結婚式（園遊会、開店祝い、 etc.）に招待する
to invite a person to a wedding (a garden party, the opening of a store, etc.)

In daily conversation, especially in reference to less formal affairs, yobu よ
ぶ is the verb used.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Kinō wa Ishida-san no uchi e yūshoku ni yobareta n desu.

きのうは石田さんのうちへ夕食によばれたんです。

Yesterday I was invited to dinner at the Ishidas.

Yobu よぶ implies that the person invited comes to where the inviter is. On the
other hand, if you wish to ask someone to go somewhere with you, use sasou 誘
う to mean “Let’s go to such-and-such a place.”

EXAMPLE:
(3) tomodachi o eiga (shibai, ongakukai, etc.) ni sasou

友達を映画（芝居、音楽会、 etc.）に誘う
to ask a friend out to a movie (play, concert, etc.)

Shu jutsu 手術 (surgical) operation

Shujutsu 手術 refers to “surgical operation,” and not any other kind of
operation. “Be operated on” is formally shujutsu o ukeru 手術を受ける (lit.,
“receive an operation”).

EXAMPLE:
(1) Satō-san wa raigetsu i no shujutsu o ukeru koto ni natte-iru.

佐藤さんは来月胃の手術を受けることになっている。
Mr. Sato is scheduled to have a stomach operation next month.

“To operate on someone” is shujutsu o suru 手術をする, as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Gekai wa shujutsu o suru no ga senmon da.

外科医は手術をするのが専門だ。
Surgeons specialize in operating.

Colloquially, however, shujutsu o suru 手術をする is often used to mean
the same as shujutsu o ukeru 手術を受ける.

EXAMPLE:
(3) Satō-san wa raigetsu i no shujutsu o suru n datte.

佐藤さんは来月胃の手術をするんだって。
I hear Mr. Sato is going to have a stomach operation next month.

In informal speech, shujutsu 手術 is frequently pronounced shujitsu just as
Shinjuku 新宿 is often pronounced Shinjiku.

Shu mi 趣味 hobby; taste

Shumi 趣味 has two meanings. First, it is something one does for fun in one’s
spare time, as in

EXAMPLE:
(1) Watashi no shumi wa dokusho to supōtsu desu.

私の趣味は読書とスポーツです。
My hobbies are reading and sports.

Second, shumi 趣味 means “ability to see and enjoy what is good in art,
manners, etc.,” as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Yoshida-san no kite-iru mono wa, itsumo shumi ga ii.

吉田さんの着ている物は、いつも趣味がいい。
Ms. Yoshida’s clothes always show good taste.

Shūsen 終戦 end of the war

August 15 is commemorated in Japan as Shūsen Kinenbi 終戦記念日 “the day
to commemorate the end of World War II.” What is interesting is the fact that
the Japanese rarely use the word haisen 敗戦 “defeat (in war)” because it hurts
their egos too much to admit the war ended in Japan’s surrender. Hence shūsen
終戦, which they can swallow more easily. Although some people criticize this
hypocrisy, it may not be a bad practice. After all, shūsen is not a lie. The war did
end that day.

Shushō 首相 prime minister

In English, “prime minister” and “premier” may refer to the same person. In
Japanese, there are shushō 首相 and sōridaijin 総理大臣, but the former is used
more frequently than the latter. Sōridaijin is often shortened to just sōri 総理.

EXAMPLE:
Kyō shushō/sōri (daijin) wa Igirisu no shushō to kaidan no yotei da sō da.
今日 首相/総理（大臣）はイギリスの首相と会談の予定だそうだ。
I hear the premier is scheduled to have a meeting with the prime minister of

England today.

Interestingly, sōri (daijin) 総理（大臣） is rarely used in reference to the
prime minister of a foreign nation.

Sō [So o] desu そうです That’s right

Sō desu そうです meaning “That is so” and its negative counterpart Sō ja
arimasen そうじゃ ありません meaning “That isn’t so” are most normally
used in response to a question that ends with a noun + desu ka ですか (or ja
arimasen ka じゃありませんか).

EXAMPLES:
(1) A: Are wa Tanaka-san desu ka.

あれは田中さんですか。
Is that Mr. Tanaka?
B: Hai, sō desu.
はい、そうです。
Yes, it is.
(2) A: Are wa Suzuki-san desu ka.
あれは鈴木さんですか。
Is that Mr. Suzuki?
B: lie, sō ja arimasen. Tanaka-san desu yo.
いいえ、そうじゃありません。田中さんですよ。
No, it isn’t. It’s Mr. Tanaka.

In response to a question that ends with an adjective + desu ka ですか or a
verb + ka か, don’t use Sō desu そうです but repeat the same adjective or verb
instead.

EXAMPLES:
(3) A: Sore wa oishii desu ka.

それはおいしいですか。
Is that delicious?
B: Ee, oishii desu yo.
ええ、おいしいですよ。
Yes, it is [delicious].
(4) A: Takano-san wa eigo ga wakarimasu ka.
高野さんは英語が分かりますか。
Does Mr. Takano understand English?

B: Ee, wakarimasu yo.
ええ、分かりますよ。
Yes, he does (lit., he understands).

The above does not apply to Sō desu nē そうですねえ or Sō desu ka そうです
か.

EXAMPLES:
(5) A: Kore wa oishii desu nē.

これはおいしいですねえ。
This is delicious, isn’t it!
B: Sō desu nē.
そうですねえ。
It is, isn’t it!
(6) A: Takada-san wa yoku nomimasu nē.
高田さんはよく飲みますねえ。
Mr. Takada drinks a lot, doesn’t he!
B: Sō desu nē.
そうですねえ。
He does, doesn’t he!
(7) A: Kore wa oishii desu yo.
これはおいしいですよ。
This is delicious, you know.
B: Sō desu ka.
そうですか。
Oh, is it?
(8) A: Takada-san wa yoku nomimasu yo.
田中さんはよく飲みますよ。
Mr. Takada drinks a lot, you know.
B: Sō desu ka.
そうですか。
Does he?

Incidentally, Japanese sō そう has etymologically nothing to do with English
“so,” although they sound alike and have similar meanings. Japanese sō is
traceable to its older version sayō 左様, which has survived in the farewell
Sayōnara さようなら “Goodby,” which literally meant “If it is so [then we
must part].” (See also SŌ DESU KA.)

Sō [So o] desu ka そうですか Is that so?

Sō desu ka そうですか “Is that so?” is a standard response to someone’s
statement.

EXAMPLE:
(1) A: Kinō Fujisan ni nobotte-kimashita.

きのう富士山に登ってきました。
Yesterday I went climbing Mt. Fuji.
B: Sō desu ka.
そうですか。
Is that so?

Since Sō desu ka そうですか is just a response and not a real question (though
it looks like a question, with ka か at the end), pronounce it with a falling
intonation. If it is pronounced with a rising intonation, it becomes a genuine
question meaning “Is what you’ve just said really so?” You would then sound as
though you were questioning the other person’s credibility.

Also remember that, in Japanese, Sō desu ka そうですか is probably used
much more often than “Is that so?” in English. The reason is that Sō desu ka
does not have many variants, while “Is that so?” does. Consider the following
examples in English:

EXAMPLES:
(2) A: He’s a great athlete.

B: Is he?
(3) A: My wife left for Europe yesterday.

B: Did she?
(4) A: Mr. Smith can speak Japanese, you know.

B: Can he?

All the responses above would be Sō desu ka そうですか in Japanese.
Sō desu ka そうですか does have a few variants, however, one being

Hontō desu ka 本 当ですか (lit., “Is that a truth?”). Hontō desu ka, as
explained by Jorden (1, p. 29), “indicates livelier interest and greater surprise.” It
should, like Sō desu ka, be pronounced with a falling intonation unless you wish
to indicate doubt.

Su go i すごい terrific

Sugoi すごい used to be nothing more than an adjective, as in

EXAMPLES:
(1a) Ano josei wa sugoi bijin da.

あの女性はすごい美人だ。
That woman is a striking beauty.
(1b) Sugoi ame da ne.
すごい雨だね。
Isn’t this an awful downpour!

Nowadays, in colloquial Japanese, it is sometimes used as an adverb as well,
as in (2).

EXAMPLE:
(2) Kono kēki sugoi oishii ne.

このケーキすごいおいしいね。
Doesn’t this cake taste great?

In traditional speech, sugoku oishii すごくおいしい used to be the norm.
Even today, sugoi すごい as an adverb is still substandard, but it is becoming
quite common among young people speaking casually.

Su ki 好き to like

Although suki 好き is a na -noun and not a verb, it often corresponds to the
English verb “like.” It is probably used more commonly in reference to things
than persons.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Wakai hito wa sakana yori niku no hō ga suki desu.

若い人は魚より肉の方が好きです。
Young people like meat better than fish.

Although suki 好き may be used concerning people, as in (2) below, other
expressions such as ii いい “good, nice” are probably used more frequently, as
in (3), to express the same idea.

EXAMPLES:
(2) Kimi no otō-san ga suki da.

君のお父さんが好きだ。
I like your father.
(3) Kimi no otō-san ii hito da ne.

君のお父さんいい人だね。
lit., Your father is a nice man.

This is, I suspect, due to Japanese speakers’ preference for describing a person

objectively over mentioning their subjective feelings toward him. In fact, suki
好き used with reference to a person often means more than just “like.” It means

“love.”

EXAMPLE:

(4) Man: Kimi ga suki da.
君が好きだ。

I love you.

Woman: Watashi mo anata ga suki yo.
私もあなたが好きよ。
I love you too. (For Japanese expressions of love, see AISURU.)

Suki 好き, unlike English “like,” cannot refer to momentary liking.
American students of Japanese misuse the word when they ignore this
distinction. In English, one can say, for example,

EXAMPLE:
(5) I liked the movie I saw yesterday.

In Japanese, on the other hand, suki 好き cannot be used in such a context.

EXAMPLE:

(6) *Kinō mita eiga ga suki datta.
*きのう見た映画が好きだった。

lit., I liked the movie I saw yesterday.

Instead, one would have to say something like

EXAMPLE:

(7) Kinō mita eiga wa yokatta (or omoshirokatta).
きのう見た映画はよかった（面白かった）。

The movie I saw yesterday was good (or fun).

Suki 好き refers to liking something over a longer period of time, for example:

EXAMPLES:

(8) Eiga ga suki desu.
映画が好きです。
I like movies.

(9) Kinō mita yō na eiga ga suki desu.
きのう見たような映画が好きです。
I like movies such as the one I saw yesterday.

Su ko shi 少し a little, a few, some

Unlike sukunai 少ない “little, few,” sukoshi 少し has no negative overtone.

EXAMPLES:
(1) Mada okane ga sukoshi aru.

まだお金が少しある。
I still have a little money.
(2) Kinō wa ōki na hon’ya e itta no de, sukoshi hon o katta.
きのうは大きな本屋へ行ったので、少し本を買った。
Since I went to a large bookstore yesterday, I bought some books.

Since sukoshi 少し itself does not carry a negative connotation, in order to
convey the idea of “not many” with sukoshi, one has to place the word in
negative constructions, such as shika ... nai しか…ない.

EXAMPLE:
(3) Kyō wa gakusei ga sukoshi shika konakatta.

今日は学生が少ししか来なかった。
Only a few students came today.

Sentence (3) is very similar in meaning to (4).

EXAMPLE:
(4) Kyō kita gakusei wa sukunakatta.

今日来た学生は少なかった。
The number of students who came today was small.

Note that in order to express the same idea, sukoshi 少し has to be placed in a
negative sentence, whereas sukunai 少ない, which carries a negative overtone,
does not (see SUKUNAI).

Su ku nai 少ない little, few

Sukunai 少ない is the opposite of ōi 多い “much, many” (see ŌI) and carries
the negative overtone of “not much, not many.”

EXAMPLES:
(1) Nihon ni wa yuden ga sukunai.

日本には油田が少ない。
Japan has few oil fields.
(2) Mochigane mo sukunaku-natta.
持ち金も少なくなった。
I don’t have much money left with me.

As is the case with ōi 多い, sukunai 少ない cannot directly modify a noun
that follows. For example, *sukunai hon 少ない本 does not normally mean
“few books.” Therefore, to express “I have few books,” one cannot say

EXAMPLE:
(3) *Sukunai hon o motte-imasu.

*少ない本を持っています。

The above sentence should be changed, for example, to

EXAMPLE:
(4) Watashi ga motte-iru hon wa sukunai desu.

私が持っている本は少ないです。
lit., The books I have are few.

The combination sukunai hon 少ない本 can occur, however, in
environments such as (5), where the item that is scarce is not the hon 本 “book”
but something else.

EXAMPLE:
(5) Kore wa goshoku no sukunai hon desu.

これは誤植の少ない本です。
This is a book with few misprints.

Su mimase n すみません I’m sorry; thank you.

Sumimasen すみません is basically a form of apology. If a student is scolded
by his/her teacher, the best thing to do is to bow, saying Sumimasen (“I’m

sorry”).

Sumimasen is increasingly used as an expression of thanks, too. If someone
gives you a gift, you accept it with a bow, saying Dōmo sumimasen どうもす
みません (“Thank you very much”). Although purists are against this use—
saying that a word of apology should not be used to express gratitude—it is so
common nowadays that no one can stem the tide. The reason this has happened
is because in the minds of Japanese people, apologizing and thanking are very
similar. The Japanese apologize when they have done something wrong and feel
they have to repay for that; they express gratitude when someone does
something for them for which they feel they have to repay. Both involve the
feeling of owing something to someone.

Incidentally, in English, it is perfectly in accordance with decorum to say
“Pardon me?” or “I beg your pardon?” when one fails to catch what someone has
just said. However, do not translate this into *Sumimasen? すみません? when
you are speaking Japanese. The most common expression in that case would be
Ha? は？ in formal speech, and E? え？ in informal speech. In other words, if
you want a higher-status person to repeat, say Ha?, and if you want a friend to
repeat, say E? Even though this Ha? unfortunately sounds somewhat like
English “Huh?”, it is a polite expression which is totally acceptable. You must
not feel shy about using it.

Sumō 相撲 sumo wrestling; sumo wrestler

Sumō 相撲 means both “sumo wrestling,” as in (1), and “professional sumo
wrestler,” as in (2).

EXAMPLES:
(1) Sumō wa, suru supōtsu to iu yori, miru supōtsu da.

相撲は、するスポーツというより、見るスポーツだ。
Sumo is a spectator sport rather than a participatory sport.
(2) Chiyonofuji wa rippa na sumō datta.
千代の富士は立派な相撲だった。
Chiyonofuji was a great sumo wrestler.

In the second sense, sumō 相撲 may be replaced by sumōtori 相撲取り (lit.,
“person who does sumo”), rikishi 力士, or osumōsan お相撲さん. Of these
three, the last one is the most colloquial version.

Su mu 住む to live [somewhere]

Sumu 住む is usually translated as “live” (in the sense of “to reside”), but it
does not function exactly like “live.” For example, Nihon ni sumimasu 日本に
住みます, literally “I live in Japan,” does not actually mean “I live in Japan.” To
express “I live in Japan,” one must use the gerund form.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon ni sunde-imasu.

日本に住んでいます。
I live in Japan.

Nihon ni sumimasu 日本に住みます would only mean “I am going to live in
Japan.”

English “live” means both “to reside” and “to be alive.” Sumu 住む,
however, does not cover this second meaning. In Japanese, this meaning is
expressed by another verb, ikiru 生きる.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Chichi wa mō nakunarimashita ga, haha wa mada ikite-imasu (not

*sunde-imasu 住 んでいます).
父はもう亡くなりましたが、母はまだ生きています。
My father is already dead, but my mother is still living.

Suru する to do

In English, “do” is both a real verb, as in (1), and an auxiliary verb used in place
of another verb, as in (2), where “do” replaces the verb “drink.”

EXAMPLES:
(1) I do my homework every day.
(2) My wife drinks coffee, and I do too.

Japanese suru する, on the other hand, functions only as a real verb and cannot
by itself function in replacement of another verb. Suru is therefore correct in
sentence (3) but not in (4).

EXAMPLES:
(3) Mainichi shukudai o suru.

毎日宿題をする。
I do my homework every day.
(4) Kanai mo kōhī o nomu shi, watashi mo nomu (not *suru する).
家内もコーヒーを飲むし、私も飲む。
My wife drinks coffee, and I drink coffee too.

Suru する as a verb, however, has a great variety of uses, many of which do
not correspond to the uses of English “do.”

EXAMPLES:
(5) Aoi kao o shite-iru. (appearances) 青い顔をしている。

He looks pale. (lit., He is doing a pale face.)
(6) Isha o shite-iru. (occupations)

医者をしている。
He is a doctor. (lit., He is doing a doctor.)
(7) Yoku seki o suru. (physiological phenomena)
よく咳をする。
He often coughs. (lit., He often does a cough.)
(8) Nekutai o shite-iru. (certain items to wear)
ネクタイをしている。
He is wearing a necktie. (lit., He is doing a necktie.)
(9) Mainichi tenisu o suru. (activities)
毎日テニスをする。
He plays tennis every day. (lit., He does tennis every day.)

In addition to functioning as a transitive verb, as in the above sentences,
suru する is also used as an intransitive verb, as in the following:

EXAMPLES:
(10) Hen na oto ga suru.

変な音がする。
I hear a strange sound.
(11) Nan ni suru? (at a restaurant, asking a family member)
何にする？
What will you have?

Suru する is an extremely convenient word in that it can create new verbs
by being attached to nouns. This is particularly the case with the ever-increasing
number of verbs based on loanwords, e.g., hassuru-suru ハッスルする “to
hustle” (i.e., “to move about briskly”) and taipu-suru タイプする “to type”

(Morita, pp. 248–55).

Suwaru 座る to sit down

“Sitting down” in general is suwaru 座る whether one sits on a floor or in a
chair. There is another verb (koshi) kakeru （腰）掛ける, which means “sit
down (in a chair, on a bench, sofa, etc.)” but not “sit down on a floor.” In the
following examples, therefore, koshikaketa 腰掛けた is correct in (1a), but not
in (1b).

EXAMPLES:
(1a) Sofā ni suwatta (or koshikaketa).

ソファーに座った（腰掛けた）。
I sat down on the sofa.
(1b) Tatami ni suwatta (not *koshikaketa 腰掛けた).
畳に座った。
I sat down on the tatami.

Suwaru 座る is a verb expressing the momentary action of sitting down.
Suwatte-iru 座っている, therefore, does not mean “someone is in the process
of sitting down,” but rather “someone is in the state of having sat down,” i.e.,
someone is in a sitting position. Koshikakeru 腰掛ける also is a momentary
verb and is used likewise.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Asoko ni suwatte-iru (or koshikakete-iru) hito wa Ōyama-san ja nai

deshō ka.
あそこに座っている（腰掛けている）人は大山さんじゃないでしょう
か。
Isn’t that Ms. Oyama sitting over there?

(See also KAKERU.)

Su zushi i 涼しい [pleasantly] cool

In English, “cool” does not always refer to a pleasant temperature. Suzushii 涼
しい, on the other hand, always does. Suzushii therefore may be construed as
corresponding to “pleasantly cool” rather than “cool” by itself.

Another important difference between “cool” and suzushii is that suzushii

may not modify nouns that represent solids and fluids, whereas “cool” may. Of
the following examples, therefore, (1) and (2) are correct, but (3) and (4) are not.

EXAMPLES:
(1) suzushii kaze

涼しい風
a [pleasantly] cool wind
(2) suzushii tenki
涼しい天気
[pleasantly] cool weather
(3) *suzushii nomimono
*涼しい飲み物
something cool to drink
(4) *tēburu no suzushii hyōmen
*テーブルの涼しい表面
the cool surface of the table

To make (3) and (4) correct, one would have to use tsumetai 冷たい “cold” (see
TSUMETAI) instead of suzushii 涼しい.

Like other temperature-related adjectives such as samui 寒い “cold” (see
SAMUI), atatakai 暖かい “warm” (see ATATAKAI), and atsui 暑い “hot”
(see ATSUI), suzushii 涼 しい is closely connected with the change of seasons
in Japan. Suzushii is tied with aki 秋 “fall,” just as samui “cold” and fuyu 冬
“winter,” atatakai “warm” and haru 春 “spring,” and atsui “hot” and natsu 夏
“summer” are inseparable pairs. Suzushii is most appropriately used when there
is a pleasant drop in temperature following a hot day or a hot season. One says
Suzushii desu nē 涼しいですねえ “Isn’t it nice and cool!” when, for example,
there is a cool breeze at the end of a hot summer day, or when there is a nice
cool day after the long hot summer months. In this sense, suzushii is different
from “cool,” which represents a temperature range between “cold” and “warm”
and may be used regardless of preceding temperatures.

Tabako たばこ, タバコ cigarette

Since tabako たばこ, タバコ came into Japanese from Portuguese so long ago
(i.e., in the 16th century), the fact that it was originally a foreign word is no
longer felt very strongly. That is the reason tabako is often written in hiragana
(as たばこ) instead of in katakana (タ バコ), which is used for more recent
loanwords.

Tabako たばこ, タバコ originally meant “tobacco,” but nowadays it
usually refers to cigarettes, since they are the most common form of smoking
material now.

The verb for “to smoke [a cigarette, tobacco, a cigar, etc.]” is nomu のむ
(lit., “to swallow”) or sū 吸う (lit., “to inhale”).

EXAMPLE:
Anmari tabako o nomu (or sū) no wa karada ni yokunai.
あんまりタバコをのむ（吸う）のは体によくない。
Smoking too much is not good for the health.

Ta bemo no 食べ物 food

The difference between tabemono 食べ物 and “food” is that tabemono implies
“prepared food” while the English equivalent does not. For example, uncooked
rice is “food” but not tabemono. In English, you go to the supermarket to buy
groceries or food. In Japanese, on the other hand, you go to the supermarket to
buy shokuryōhin 食料品 (or shokuhin 食品) “groceries,” not tabemono.

EXAMPLES:
(1) A: Donna tabemono ga suki desu ka.

どんな食べ物が好きですか。
What kind of food do you like?
B: Yappari sushi desu ne.
やっぱり寿司ですね。
Sushi (as might be expected).
(2) Nihonjin wa mainichi no yō ni shokuryōhin (not *tabemono 食べ物) o
kai ni iku.
日本人は毎日のように食料品を買いに行く。
Japanese people go grocery shopping almost every day.

Ta be ru 食べる to eat

Taberu 食べる means “to eat,” but there are at least two usage differences
between taberu and “eat.” First, as a rule, one “eats” soup in English but
“drinks” it in Japanese.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon no inaka de wa maiasa misoshiru o nomu (not *taberu 食べる).

日本の田舎では毎朝味噌汁を飲む。
In rural areas in Japan, they have (lit., drink) miso soup every morning.

Second, in English, one may either “have” or “eat” a meal. In Japanese, one
“does” a meal.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Nihonjin wa futsū mainichi san-do shokuji o suru/toru (not *taberu 食べ

る).
日本人は普通毎日三度食事をする/取る。
Japanese usually have (lit., do) three meals a day.

(However, if gohan ご飯 is used instead of shokuji 食事 to mean “meal,”
taberu 食べる is the correct verb, as in Mō gohan o tabemashita もうご飯を
食べました “I’ve already eaten a meal.”)

Tabitabi たびたび, 度々 often, frequently

Tabitabi たびたび is synonymous with such words as yoku よく and
shibashiba しばしば.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon de wa tabitabi (yoku, shibashiba) jishin ga aru.

日本ではたびたび（よく、しばしば）地震がある。
They often have earthquakes in Japan.

Of these three, yoku よく is the most commonly used, tabitabi たびたび
comes in second, and shibashiba しばしば is definitely reserved for writing.
Tabitabi and shibashiba are nothing more than frequency words, but yoku can
mean other things such as “well” (see YOKU). The following sentence is correct
with any of the three words, but yoku may imply more than tabitabi and

shibashiba.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Nihonkai-engan wa tabitabi (shibashiba, yoku) yuki ga furu.

日本海沿岸はたびたび（しばしば、よく）雪が降る。
Along the Japan Sea, it often snows.

While tabitabi たびたび and shibashiba しばしば simply refer to the
frequency of the snowfalls, yoku yuki ga furu よく雪が降る may imply “it
snows a lot” as well as “it often snows.”

-Tachi たち (pluralizing suffix)

-Tachi たち is a pluralizing suffix.

EXAMPLE:
(1) gakusei-tachi

学生たち
students

It may not be attached to nouns representing inanimate objects, nor is it added to
nouns referring to animate beings other than humans. Therefore, (2) and (3)
below are incorrect.

EXAMPLES:
(2) *hon-tachi

*本たち
books
(3) *inu-tachi
*犬たち
dogs

The use of -tachi たち is often not obligatory. It is dropped when its absence
does not make the meaning of the sentence unclear.

EXAMPLE:
(4) Kodomo (not *Kodomo-tachi 子供たち) ga futari imasu.

子供がふたりいます。
I have two children.

-Tachi たち is different from the pluralizing suffix, “-s,” in English in that it
often means “and [the] others.”

EXAMPLES:
(5) Tanaka-san-tachi ga kita.

田中さんたちが来た。
Mr. Tanaka and the others (not the Tanakas) have arrived.
(6) Hayaku chichi-tachi ni kore o mise-tai.
早く父たちにこれを見せたい。
I’d like to show this to my father and the others (i.e., my mother and/or the
other members of my family) at once.

Ta daima ただいま I’m home!

Tadaima ただいま is a greeting used by a person who has just come home. In
other words, it is an announcement of one’s arrival at home. Tadaima is an
abbreviation of Tadaima kaerimashita ただいま帰りました (lit., “I have
returned just now”). Although this original sentence is still sometimes used on
formal occasions, among family members it is almost always shortened to
Tadaima, and most speakers are not even conscious of the original meaning of
the word (i.e., “just now”), especially because the accent has changed. In the
original sentence, the word is accented on the second syllable, whereas when
used alone to mean “I’m home!” the accent shifts to the last syllable.

Tadaima ただいま is used every time one arrives home from school, work,
shopping, or other outings, and the other members of the family respond to it by
saying Okaeri-nasai お帰りなさい meaning “Welcome home!” (see OKAERI-
NASAI).

Taihen たいへん, 大変 very, terrible, tremendous

Taihen たいへん, like totemo とても (see TOTEMO), means “very.”

EXAMPLE:
(1) Kono natsu wa taihen (or totemo) atsukatta.

この夏はたいへん（とても）暑かった。
This summer was very hot.

Taihen たいへん used in this sense sounds more formal than totemo とても,

which is relatively colloquial.
Taihen 大変 is sometimes used by itself or with da だ to mean “Something

terrible has happened!” It is like an interjection.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Taihen da! Kaban o wasureta!

大変だ！カバンを忘れた！
Good heavens! I forgot my briefcase!

When taihen 大変 modifies a noun, na な comes in between. As a noun
modifier, taihen na 大変な (somewhat like English “tremendous”) may have
either a good or a bad connotation, depending on the context.

EXAMPLES:
(3) taihen na gochisō

大変なごちそう
a tremendous feast
(4) taihen na atsusa
大変な暑さ
tremendous heat

Taiken 体験 experience

Keiken 経験 is the most frequently used word for “experience,” as in

EXAMPLES:
(1a) Ano kaisha wa, keiken no jūbun na hito shika yatowanai sō da.

あの会社は、経験の十分な人しか雇わないそうだ。
That company hires only people with sufficient experience, I hear.
(1b) Gaikokujin ni Nihongo o oshieta keiken ga arimasu ka.
外国人に日本語を教えた経験がありますか。
Have you had any experience in teaching Japanese to foreigners?

Taiken 体験 also means “experience,” but it emphasizes the fact that
something was experienced “with one’s own body,” i.e., firsthand.

EXAMPLE:
(2) Sensō o taiken-shite miru to, sensō no kowasa ga wakaru yō ni naru.

戦争を体験してみると、戦争の怖さが分かるようになる。
By experiencing war firsthand, one begins to understand its horrors.

Keiken 経験 could be used in (2), too, but then the sentence would just
mean “by living through war,” whereas taiken 体験 would bring up more vivid
images of bombings and other horrors.

Taisetsu 大切 important

Taisetsu 大切 is quite similar to daiji 大事.

EXAMPLE:
(1) Ichiban taisetsu (or daiji) na hito wa jibun no hahaoya da to omotte-iru

hito wa ōi darō.
いちばん大切（大事）な人は自分の母親だと思っている人は多いだろ
う。
I’m sure there are lots of people who think their mother is the most important
person.

As the above example indicates, taisetsu 大切 (or daiji 大事) is subjective,
i.e., important to a particular person. In other words, if someone is taisetsu to
you, you consider him/her dear to your heart. Taisetsu (or daiji) na mono 大切
（大事）なもの is something you cherish.

Jūyō 重要 also means “important,” but it is objective rather than subjective
and signifies “important in terms of a specific role,” as in

EXAMPLE:
(2) Mishima Yukio wa, Shōwa no bungakushi-jō jūyō (not *taisetsu/daiji 大

切/大事) na sakka de atta.
三島由紀夫は、昭和の文学史上重要な作家であった。
Yukio Mishima was an important writer in terms of the literary history of the
Showa period.

Since sentence (2) concerns Mishima’s importance in terms of his role in the
literary history of Showa, jūyō 重要 is more appropriate than taisetsu/daiji 大
切/大事.

Taisetsu and daiji are often used with ni suru にする, but jūyō is never
used that way, e.g.

EXAMPLE:
(3) Ningen wa karada o taisetsu/daiji (not *jūyō 重要) ni shinakereba ikenai.

人間は体を 大切/大事 にしなければいけない。

One must take care of oneself (lit., one’s body).

Ta ka i 高い expensive, high, tall

Takai 高い meaning “expensive” is the opposite of yasui 安い “inexpensive.”

EXAMPLE:
(1) Anmari takai kara, kaemasen.

あんまり高いから、買えません。
I can’t buy it because it’s too expensive.

Regarding height, takai 高い means “high” or “tall.” When used in this
sense, takai is the opposite of hikui 低い “low, short.”

EXAMPLES:
(2) takai tana

高い棚
high shelf
(3) Hikōki ga takai tokoro o tonde-iru.
飛行機が高いところを飛んでいる。
There’s an airplane flying high up in the sky.
(4) takai yama
高い山
high mountain
(5) Asoko ni mieru ki wa zuibun takai desu nē.
あそこに見える木はずいぶん高いですねえ。
The tree we can see over there is very tall, isn’t it!

To describe someone as being tall, we usually use se ga takai 背が高い (lit.,
“the height is tall”) instead of takai 高い by itself.

EXAMPLE:
(6) Jonson-san wa se ga takai.

ジョンソンさんは背が高い。
Mr. Johnson is tall. (lit., Mr. Johnson’s height is tall.)

To the surprise of English speakers, takai 高い is also used in reference to
some parts of the face when they protrude more than normal.

EXAMPLES:

(7) takai hana
高い鼻
long nose (lit., high nose)

(8) takai hōbone
高いほお骨
protruding cheekbones (lit., high cheek bones)

Takusan たくさん a lot, enough

Takusan たくさん means “a lot” in the sense of “a great number” or “a great
amount.”

EXAMPLES:
(1) Asoko ni hito ga takusan iru.

あそこに人がたくさんいる。
There are a lot of people over there.
(2) Hon o takusan kaita.
本をたくさん書いた。
I wrote a lot of books.

When takusan たくさん precedes a noun, no の is required in between.

EXAMPLE:
(3) Takusan no hon o kaita.

たくさんの本を書いた。
I wrote a lot of books.

The pattern used in (3), however, is not as common as that used in (1) and (2),
where takusan たくさん follows a noun with a particle in between.

Takusan たくさん also means “enough.” When used in this sense, it is
often preceded by mō もう “already.”

EXAMPLES:
(4) Sore dake areba, takusan desu.

それだけあれば、たくさんです。
If I have that much, it should be enough.
(5) Konna hanashi wa mō takusan da.
こんな話はもうたくさんだ。
I don’t want to hear that kind of thing any more. (lit., I’ve already had
enough of this kind of talk.)